To:D. B. RYAZANOV

Published:First published in 1930 inLenin Miscellany XIII.

      Sent from Munich to Paris.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,[1977],

      Moscow,Volume 43,

      pages50-51a.Translated:Martin Parker and Bernard IsaacsTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2005).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

DearComrade,

Wehave already read the proofs of your article and it probably has been
printed, so that it is impossible to make any changes now. As for the deletion,
we did it. We of course would not presume to make any changes affecting the
essential ideas of the author without asking his per mission first. The given
deletion, however, was prompted by purely technical considerations. No editorial
office can relinquish the right to make cuts of this order. We were quite
certain that you would see yourself that the deletions we have made in no way
alter the autlThr’s train of thought or detract from the weightiness of
his arguments. We hope very much that you will not take this in bad part and
that you will continue your co-operation which we value so highly.

Theagreement with the liberals which we hinted at in the previous
letter[1]has
been
concluded.[2]We undertake the publication of a separate general
political supplement toZaryawhich will also carry part of our current
mate rials. We trust that your
group[3]will lend a hand with this
supplement too. We shall shortly send you the announcement of its publication.

Haveyou heard anything about the Kiev
developments[4]?They say that 18 were killed there. Please let us know what
information you have.

Bestregards,Petrov

[1]Seepresent edition, Vol. 36, pp. 67–68.—Ed.

[2]Areference to the talks between the Editorial Board ofIskraand the liberals concerning the publication ofSovremennoye
Obozreniye(Contemporary Review) as a supplement toZarya. Announcements on the publication of the supplement were
issued by G. V. Plekhanov on behalf ofIskraandZaryaand by P. B. Struve on behalf of the “democratic opposition” group. The
project was never realised, however, since Dietz refused to print the
announcements as not conforming to censorship requirements. Further talks
between the representatives ofIskraand Struve were interrupted
and never resumed (see present edition, Vol. 4, pp. 380–82; Vol. 36,
pp. 67, 71; Lenin,Collected Works, Fifth [Russian] Ed., Vol. 4,
pp. 389–90).

[3]TheBorbagroup (D. B. Ryazanov, Y. M. Steklov,
E. L. Gurevich) originated in Paris in the summer of 1900 and took shape as
an independent group in1901, after the “Unity” Conference. In
its publications it distorted Marxist theory, rejected the revolutionary
tactics ofIskra, and was opposed to Lenin’s principles of Party
organisation. Owing to its deviations from Social-Democratic views and
tactics, its disruptive actions and lack of contact with Social-Democratic
organisations in Russia, the group was not admitted to the Second Congress
of the R.S.D.L.P., which decided to dissolve it.

[4]Areference to student demonstrations in protest against the
introduction of the provisional rules of July 29,1899, and the drafting of
183 students of the Kiev University into the army (see present edition,
Vol. 4, pp. 414–19). A meeting of the Russian colony in London held on
February 6, 1901, adopted a protest against this action by the government,
which was published in the journalNakanuneNo. 26–27 under the
title “London Protest”.